


Of Holiday Parties and Mistletoe

by anecdotalist



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Also featuring an assortment of Jedi, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, M/M, Mistletoe, mentions of past Anakin/Padme - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 05:29:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13000842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anecdotalist/pseuds/anecdotalist
Summary: There's a holiday tradition at the JEDI Consulting Firm: Anakin tries to get Obi-Wan to kiss him under the mistletoe and Obi-Wan turns him down. Mace is exasperated, Ahsoka's amused, and Padmé just wants the two of them to man up and tell each other how they really feel.





	Of Holiday Parties and Mistletoe

“Hey, Obi-Wan, look! Mistletoe!” Anakin plops himself down on the open seat next to Obi-Wan in the breakroom and holds a sprig of mistletoe up over their heads with a big grin.

Across the round table, Mace groans. “Again, Skywalker?”

Obi-Wan just shakes his head with a smile and pushes Anakin’s arm down. “Nice try.”

Anakin shrugs and sets it down on the table, then starts unpacking his lunch. “Gotta uphold tradition.”

“I can’t watch this,” Mace mutters, getting up and balling up a brown paper bag. “Skywalker, you’re a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen.”

“Aw, come on, Mace. You know Obi-Wan’s not gonna file anything against me. He loves me!”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Mace says, throwing his crumpled up lunch into the recycling bin. “Remember that report is due on my desk by the end of the day today.”

“Aye aye, boss!” Anakin salutes him with the plastic knife he’s using to cut into his chicken parm.

“I should go too,” Obi-Wan says. He stands and Mace pauses at the door to wait for him.

Anakin pouts. “Aw, fine. We still on for tonight?”

“Yeah. I’ll text you when I’m ready to head out.”

“Great! Have a good afternoon!”

“You too,” Obi-Wan responds with a quirk of his lips.

“You want to stop by HR on the way?” Mace asks with a pointed look at Anakin.

Obi-Wan laughs. “It’s fine. Anakin’s just playing around. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yep, that’s right,” Anakin echoes, “just playing around.” As soon as the door clicks shut behind them, he shoves his tupperware container to the side and drops his head down onto the table with a moan.

“So,” Padmé says, “that didn’t go well.” The sound of two chairs being pulled out on either side of him registers, and then the clatter of two trays being set down. Anakin raises his head and looks around; Padmé and their new intern, Ahsoka, have taken the seats next to him.

“You saw that?”

“Every second of it,” Padmé confirms gleefully.

“It’s nice that you’re trying to bring some holiday cheer to the office,” Ahsoka volunteers.

“That’s not the tradition he was talking about,” Padmé says.

Ahsoka scrunches up her nose. “Oh. Then what is it?”

“It’s a tradition in which Anakin holds up a mistletoe over him and Obi-Wan and asks for a kiss and Obi-Wan shoots him down. It’s been going on for, oh, ever since Anakin started working here. So, five years ago?” Padmé considers and then nods. “Yes, five years ago.”

“Aw, well, that’s—”

“Sad,” Padmé interrupts firmly. “It’s just sad.”

Ahsoka stifles a giggle.

“Padmé,” Anakin whines, “I don’t want to talk about this. And as my ex, shouldn’t you be avoiding this topic at all costs?”

“You two used to date?” Ahsoka asks, wide-eyed.

“Mhm. For a grand total of two months, during which I realized that Anakin was totally besotted with Obi-Wan. So I dumped him and I’ve been watching this trainwreck ever since. It’s been years.” She turns to Anakin and repeats sternly, “Years. If you don’t actually say something to him, he’ll never realize that you mean it.”

“I don’t….” Anakin looks desperately around the room for a change in topic. His eyes land on their trays. “Hey, so the cafeteria has apple pie today?” he asks brightly.

Padmé narrows her eyes at him. “That’s another thing,” she tells Ahsoka, leaning forward to look at her around Anakin. “Remember how for the Thanksgiving potluck, Anakin brought in blueberry rhubarb pie?”

“Yeah. That was delicious!”

“Thanks, my mother made it,” Anakin says with a smile.

“Anakin’s mother runs a bakery. She makes delicious pastries. I’m sure she makes excellent pies of all kinds but the only one we’ve ever tasted is the blueberry rhubarb pie. Why? Because it’s Obi-Wan’s favorite.”

“Everyone else likes it too!” Anakin defends.

“Yeah, and I’m sure everyone else would like any other kind of pie you bring in from your mother’s shop,” she tells him. Then, to Ahsoka, she continues, “We’ve tried asking him for a variety. Don’t get me wrong, it really is a great pie. But the same pie for both Thanksgiving and the winter holiday party every year for five years? It gets a little tedious.”

“Wow, you’ve got it bad,” Ahsoka says.

“Then there’s the box of chocolates every Valentine’s. The cupcakes on his birthday. The _weekly Friday night dinner and movie dates_.”

“Are you sure you’re not already dating?” Ahsoka asks, amused.

“They’re not,” Padmé answers for him. “One year, Obi-Wan started dating Satine. That was disastrous. The amount of moping and sad pitiful looks from this one was ridiculous.”

Anakin pouts at her and grimly focuses on eating his lunch. If she wants to hash out the timeline of his nonexistent love life, then she can do it without his input.

“So what happened?” Ahsoka asks, curiosity laced in her voice. Ahsoka’s a good intern, Anakin thinks. Hard working, bright, fits in with their team like she’s always been there. Anakin hopes that she takes on a position with them after her internship is over. Even though she’s ganging up on him with Padmé.

“Satine broke up with Obi-Wan. Said that he and Anakin were too co-dependent on each other to allow for a third party. Obi-Wan didn’t see it. He still doesn’t. He thinks he and Anakin are best friends.”

“We _are_ best friends!”

“Maybe...maybe Obi-Wan doesn’t like guys?” Ahsoka suggests hesitantly.

“No, that’s not it. He used to date a guy. Jango. Well, ‘date’ may be too strong of a word but they had _something_ going on. It was very brief, though. So it’s not that. Obi-Wan is just oblivious to these kinds of things. And Anakin refuses to be upfront about his feelings. Instead, he does all these roundabout cheesy things to try to, I don’t know, woo Obi-Wan without telling Obi-Wan that he’s wooing him.”

“I can’t just _tell_ him. What if he doesn’t feel the same way? It’ll ruin everything. This way, there’s no pressure. I give him the option and if he wants to take it, he can take it. And if he doesn’t, then we can laugh it off as a joke.”

“I...see,” Ahsoka says.

“You don’t, yet, but you will,” Padmé promises.

“I’m going back to work,” Anakin announces. “I can’t sit here any longer while you two dissect my lovelife.”

“And you want to finish that report early so you’re ready to go as soon as Obi-Wan is,” Padmé teases.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Anakin dismisses.

“Uh-huh. So what’s on the menu tonight?”

“Just pizza and the newest Spider-Man movie.”

“Sounds fun. Mind if we—”

“Don’t even think about it,” Anakin says.

Padmé laughs.

 

* * *

 

“So, Obi-Wan, how was Friday night?” Padmé asks when she’s dropping files off in his office. Ahsoka trails her with a file cart.

“It was good,” Obi-Wan says. “We ended up watching the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies after we finished the Tom Holland one. And then it was so late that I just stayed over and slept on the couch.”

Padmé looks over her shoulder at Ahsoka and arches her brows meaningfully. Turning back to Obi-Wan, she says in her driest voice, “Uh-huh.”

Obi-Wan flushes. “Really. That’s all we did.”

Padmé sighs. “I’m not questioning _that._ Honestly, Obi-Wan, don’t you think you should say something to him? All this pining isn’t good for you.”

“I’m fine. I’m not going to say anything that’s going to ruin what we’ve got. Things are good between us.”

“They could be better, though,” Padmé points out.

“Probably not. Anakin doesn’t feel that way about me.”

Ahsoka gapes. “Wait, what? What about the mistletoe thing?” Padmé shoots her a warning look and she snaps her mouth shut.

Obi-Wan frowns slightly. “That? Anakin’s been doing that since his first year here. He went around wearing a Santa hat with a sprig of mistletoe on top and was getting everyone to either kiss him on the cheek or let him kiss them on the cheek. I was the only one who refused and he’s been after me ever since, trying to get that kiss. That was before we got to know each other though. Since we’ve become friends, it’s become an inside joke.”

“Really,” Ahsoka says, disbelief coloring her voice. “That’s all it is?”

“Yeah. What else would it be?” Obi-Wan asks.

“Nothing, I guess,” Ahsoka says after another look at Padmé who’s giving a minute shake of her head. After they leave Obi-Wan’s office, she leans over and hisses, “What was that about? Why don’t you just tell him about Anakin’s feelings for him? You’d be saving them both a lot of trouble.”

Padmé waves her off. “I’ve tried. They don’t believe me. I’ve got too much history with both of them.”

“Both...of them?”

“Not like that. It’s just that I’ve worked with them for a long time. They’ve already heard all of my arguments. I think a fresh perspective might be what’s needed.” She winks at Ahsoka. “Now, do you think you’ll be able to do this on your own tomorrow? I have a couple of deadlines I need to meet.”

Ahsoka nods firmly. “Yeah, absolutely.”

“Good. Let’s finish this up then and I’ll take you out to that new vegan place for lunch.”

“Cool!”

 

* * *

 

“Obi-Wan! Luminara! Wait, there’s a mistletoe,” Anakin calls out. The two of them pause just before the propped-open door of the breakroom.

“What?” Luminara asks, brows furrowed.

Anakin points up and they look, to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the doorway they had nearly walked through together.

Obi-Wan steps back and gestures for Luminara to enter first; she gives Anakin a nod of thanks and then goes.

An “Aw, man!” can be heard from inside and Anakin rolls his eyes. He walks under the doorway and reaches up, detaching the sprig of mistletoe. “It is _rude_ , Quinlan, to hang up mistletoe and try to catch people by surprise just so you can watch them kiss,” he says.

“I’m just trying to help you out,” Quinlan says and Anakin doesn’t have to look to know that he has his patented faux-innocent look plastered onto his face.

“Uh-huh, sure you are.”

“So!” Padmé intervenes. “What are we all eating today?”

Anakin points two fingers at his eyes and then turns them to point at Quinlan, arching his brows for emphasis. Then he turns to the fridge to pull out a large rectangular glass tupperware container. “Mom and I made lasagna last night,” he tells the room. There’s a collective excited “ooh” and he grins.

“I really love that one of the perks of this internship is a weekly homemade Skywalker meal,” Ahsoka says fervently. “You and your mom should have a family dinner every night.”

“We do eat together pretty often. It’s just the weekly cooking nights that you’re eating the results of.”

“Well then, I’m really glad you and your mom do your major cooking on a weeknight instead of the weekend.”

“Yeah, well, weekends tend to be busier at my mom’s bakery so she’s usually too tired to do it then.”

“Less talking,” Mace cuts in, “and more heating up of food, if you don’t mind. Some of us have to get back to work.”

“You got it, boss,” Anakin says with a smart salute and sets to it. Mace just shakes his head.

After the food’s been devoured by his very hungry coworkers (as usual; Anakin’s getting a little concerned about their ability to fend for themselves) and some of them have drifted back to their desks, Anakin removes the small cardboard box he’d left in the fridge.

“Here,” he tells Obi-Wan, handing the older man the box. “Mom wants to get your thoughts on this before the weekend. It’s spiced apple cranberry pie,” he adds as Obi-Wan opens the box to reveal a small slice of pie. “She’s thinking of adding it to the menu for the holidays.”

“Oh, shit,” Ahsoka says, eyes on the distinctive logo on the top of the box. “Your mom’s bakery is _Shmi’s Bakery_?”

“Yeah,” Anakin says with a confused look, “you didn’t know that?”

“No!” Ahsoka says. “Fuck, her bakery is the highest-rated bakery in Coruscant. There are always lines around the block. I once waited two hours just to get in there.”

Anakin grimaces. “Yeah, it’s a bit much sometimes. I go in on the weekends sometimes to help out.”

“It was totally worth the wait,” Ahsoka hurries to reassure. “I’m just saying. She’s a local celebrity! I can’t believe I’m only one degree of separation from a celebrity.”

“I think you’re making more out of this than it really is,” Anakin says.

“No, she’s not. What _I_ want to know, though, is when Obi-Wan became the taste-tester of your mother’s pies?” Padmé demands. “He always just likes the one! The rest of us are the ones who keep wanting to try other flavors.”

“Well, it didn’t start off as anything in particular. I just had one of her new pies at home when he came over one day and we ate it. He gave some feedback that I passed on to my mom which she thought was really helpful. And she knows that he’s over every other week so he’s a reliable independent reviewer.”

“And I’m always a willing diner,” Obi-Wan adds with a twinkle, licking his spoon. The cardboard box is empty of its contents. “Even though the blueberry rhubarb remains my favorite. This one’s pretty good,” he says to Anakin, “I think it’ll be a hit with customers. It’s the perfect flavor for the season.”

Padmé gapes at him. “You just... _finished_ the pie without, without even offering any to us? Obi-Wan, how could you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It was such a small piece. It went faster than I expected.”

“Great,” Anakin says, pulling out his phone. “I’ll let her know. I can bring you guys a slice next week if you want.”

“Yes,” Padmé says immediately.

“Wait, did you say that you go to the bakery on the weekends? So you can bake like your mom too?” Ahsoka asks with a glimmer in her eyes.

“Nah, I can’t do desserts. I can cook and bake—” Anakin gestures at the empty container of lasagna “—you know, regular meals but I suck when it comes to pastries. Too many steps, too many precise measurements, too much patience required. So I usually make the entrees and my mom makes desserts.”

“You have to marry this guy,” Ahsoka hisses to Obi-Wan. “He and his mom will keep you fed for life with amazing, five-star quality food and sweets. You’ll never find someone like this again.”

“What?” Obi-Wan asks, startled.

Padmé pulls Ahsoka away and mouths ‘Sorry’ to him.

Obi-Wan arches a brow at her but lets it go.

“Yeah, when I go to the bakery, it’s just to help out with the customers,” Anakin continues, eyes on his phone and giving no indication that he had heard any of what had just gone down. “The little old ladies think it’s cute that I’m there with my mom. Actually, the younger ladies think that too. My mom swears that sales are higher when I’m there.” The others look at him; he shrugs. “Anyway, you guys are welcome to come by whenever.”

“I think I might take you up on that,” Ahsoka says, making it sound more like a threat than a promise.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Obi-Wan,” Anakin greets when he, Padmé, and Ahsoka arrive at the lobby of their office building. He dangles the sprig of mistletoe in his hand and raises it as he nears the other man. “Mistletoe?” he asks with a grin.

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes.

Anakin shrugs and tucks it back into his bag, careful not to let his disappointment show.

“So, what’s on the agenda for this Friday night?” Padmé asks.

“We’re going to grill some burgers on Obi-Wan’s balcony and watch…”

“The Departed,” Obi-Wan supplies.

“Yeah, that. What about you two?”

“Netflix and quality time with my dog,” Padmé says.

“I’ve got a date,” Ahsoka announces. “With a girl I met last weekend.”

“Nice. Well, have fun on your date!” Anakin tells her.

“Thanks,” Ahsoka says. Then she smirks and says, “you guys too.”

“What?” Obi-Wan says as she strolls away.

Anakin laughs nervously. “Interns,” he says with a half-shrug. “Who knows where she gets these ideas from.” He glares over at Padmé who smiles unapologetically.

“Have a good night, boys!” she singsongs and makes her exit.

“Come on, let’s stop by the grocery store on the way to your place. I’ve been thinking about roasting brussel sprouts.”

Obi-Wan still looks bemused but he follows Anakin as he waves goodbye to the security officer and leaves the building.

 

* * *

 

“Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan says when she’s dropping off his mail one day, “last week, what did you mean by those comments about me and Anakin?”

“What comments?” Ahsoka asks innocently.

Obi-Wan furrows his brows. “The ones about the two of us dating.”

“Oh! Sorry. I thought you guys were a couple. But don’t worry, Padmé set me straight on that one.” She smiles brightly at him and watches him think.

“But what made you think we were together like that?”

“Well, it’s…” Ahsoka starts coyly. Then she stops and sighs. “Look, far be it for me to get involved in office politics and romance. And whatever you two have, you’ve obviously had going for a while. But I think you should talk to him.”

“Has he said something to you?” Obi-Wan sounds a mix of hopeful and bewildered.

“Wouldn’t be my place to tell you if he did,” Ahsoka says, walking backwards out of the office. She throws him a wink, though, for good measure.

 

* * *

 

Obi-Wan tracks Anakin down at the office holiday party that’s being held in an opulent ballroom. It’s not hard; he’s one of the tallest people in their consulting firm. He’s wearing one of his nicest suits, holding a glass in one hand, and talking with Padmé and Ahsoka.

Obi-Wan sidles up behind him and touches his elbow. “Can we talk?” Anakin turns to him with a pleased grin. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Padmé hurriedly nudging Ahsoka away.

“Hey, Obi-Wan! You made it,” Anakin says. He holds out the drink in his hand. “You want some? It’s spiked apple cider.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding. It’s just scotch.”

Obi-Wan eyes it for a second. He could go get his own glass from the bar...but he fears he may lose his courage on the way. He takes the offered drink from Anakin’s hand and takes a big sip, feeling it burn down his throat.

“Good, right? They really splurged on the alcohol this year,” Anakin says.

“Yeah, it’s good,” Obi-Wan says distractedly. He spots an empty shadowed alcove that’s well away from their mingling co-workers and pulls Anakin towards it. Anakin cocks an eyebrow at him but follows gamely along.

“So what’s up?” Anakin asks when they’re settled into the alcove, both leaning a shoulder against the curved wall and bending in towards each other. It’s mostly so that they can hear each other over the Christmas music being played over the speakers but Obi-Wan can’t deny the thrill that goes through him at Anakin’s closeness and the brightness of his eyes. It’s the same feeling he gets when he’s sitting at Anakin’s kitchen bar, watching him cook while they talk about their day: a mix of a swooping feeling in his gut like he’s on a roller coaster that’s just entered the drop and a settled feeling like this is where he belongs and he’s meant to stay. It makes him sick sometimes, how much he wants that to be true and yet feels that it can’t be.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Anakin, over the years, we’ve become really close, right? Really good friends.”

“The best,” Anakin says with a nod.

“Yeah, the best. Do you...oh, gods, I don’t even know how to say this...but do you ever wish that there was...something _more_ between us?”

Anakin’s eyes widen and Obi-Wan’s on the verge of backpedaling when he leans further forward. “More like... _more_?” Anakin hisses the last word while gesturing between the two of them.

Obi-Wan has no idea what he’s trying to say but he nods anyway; he’ll take more of anything with Anakin.

“Like more...romantic?” Now Anakin looks tentatively hopeful and Obi-Wan can feel a great relief washing through him that they’re both on the same page.

“Yes, more romantic. Intimate,” he says. Then he adds, “Exclusive.”

Anakin bites his lip. “I haven’t dated anyone since Padmé, you know. I’ve been so wrapped up in what we had that I wasn’t interested in seeing anyone else.” He flushes. “Was that weird? That was probably weird. And stalkerish. I’m sorry.”

Obi-Wan shakes his head with a quirk of his lips. “I was talking about myself. I knew you hadn’t dated recently; I figured you would have mentioned it to me or canceled some of our Friday nights.”

“Never,” Anakin says. “So this new addition to our...thing...when does it start? Now?” When Obi-Wan nods with a half-shrug, Anakin grins brightly and asks, “With...a kiss?”

Obi-Wan holds up one finger and reaches into his jacket. Anakin pouts playfully at him but settles back against the wall to wait. Obi-Wan fishes out the sprig of mistletoe he had picked up on his way to the party and holds it up over them. “Mistletoe?” He grins as Anakin barks out a laugh. “I thought it’d be appropriate—”

Anakin cups his cheek with one hand and kisses him.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, y'all!


End file.
